Briarose Arber (Melissa)
Biography Born 5 km off the west coast of Cape Atlund, Briarose Arber grew up in a small town by the name of Anargyros. The impoverished town resided in the forest and was home to many civilians whose common goal was to become sustainable to anyone who visited. Anargyros was not well off, however—the town-people struggled with maintaining a hospitable residence. The Arber family lived in a compact shack in the middle of the woods, about 1 km away from the town square. Her mother, Kish Arber, taught her the language of the common. Her father, Franklin, was skilled in dual-weapon fighting and took her outside to watch him practice his skills in fighting. Around the area Briarose would explore with her sister, Mejda, searching for bark to bring back to her grandfather, Melvin. From the bark the two would carve them into bows and arrows for the whole family to protect themselves. Her grandmother, Rose, handcrafted clothing for the family of four out of leather and cloth. Her grandparents grew up off Gallows Cove and were recruited by the Ravonkeep Federation. Both took pride in their culture and faction, but when they were old enough to settle down together and start a family, they moved to Anargyros, where the federation had less control. As Briarose grew older, she became very skilled with a bow. She wasn’t a hunter, however; she always had a way with small animals. She nurtured them to health when they were ill and discretely let them stay inside with her if the weather was dreadful. She was one with nature, and knew the ins and outs of the area. She was very soft-spoken and uncomfortable around others she didn’t know well, particularly because she spent most of the daytime sleeping and ventured outside at dusk. She was, however, very close with her family, and felt an obligation to shelter, feed, and protect them. During her teenage years, Briarose learned about medicine and how to cure her sister’s cuts and scratches. When she became turned 25 years old one rainy, forsaken day, Briarose and her family were warned by the mayor of Anargyros to flee the town. Perplexed by the mayor’s warning, the family began packing their bare necessities in large burlap sacks as sirens blared throughout the town. Before long, they heard a loud thump outside the front door of the shack, followed by a piercing shriek. Continuous thumps in a rhythmic pattern followed, and the children were ordered to hide in the bedroom. Kish took a bow and a handful of arrows from the cabinet, and Melvin wielded his daggers. They opened the door to notice a rancid smell of rotting flesh before looking into the dark, cloudy eyes of their undead neighbor. Its head hung low and looked up at them with a hungry stare only a monster would possess. Briarose was watching from behind the cracked bedroom door before she pulled back on her bow and shot an arrow straight at the beast. A few more shots sent it straight to the ground, paralyzing it. Unsure of how this could have happened, the family huddled in the middle of the shack, trying to form a plan for how they would escape Anargyros. Before they had a chance to finish packing, their house was surrounded by a horde of the undead. They began entering their home through the two windows on both sides of the shack, completely paralyzing the family with fear. They moved slowly, so it was easy for Briarose to escape the center of the room and shoot arrows from the side. One by one, she shot them down, but she noticed too late that her sister had disappeared from the room. Kish went to search the house for Mejda as Briarose continued shooting. Unknowingly, Briarose was being hunted by a particularly large member of the undead—it was lurking toward her from her backside. Before Briarose had enough time to react, Melvin saw the beast coming toward her and ran up to push her out of the way, but got caught in the grip of the beast, and fell to the ground with an infectious bite taken out of his neck. Briarose swiftly wielded the two daggers and avenged her father, and finished off the rest of the undead. When the hoard had dissipated, she took a few minutes to grieve for her father before two long-haired undead women cracked open the bedroom door. There they stood, covered in blood and disemboweled lower torsos, Mejda and their mother. A few tear drops fell from Briarose’s eyes as she slowly stood up with her daggers. The two women stood their, unforgivingly, as Briarose leaves—too astonished to consider killing her family. She made her way into town, but it wasn’t the same Anargyros—it was disheveled and broken, filled with shrieks and families running around trying to protect themselves. Briarose executed the last of the undead until dawn, and saved a significant amount of innocent lives. As the sun began to rise, civilians exited their hiding, staring with their jaws dropped straight at Briarose, who had two-handedly defeated an entire horde of undead throughout the night with nothing but a few scratches. That early morning, Briarose became the renowned hero of Anargyros. The mayor and his wife let Briarose stay with her that night after many hours of thanks from the towns-people. She was exhausted after staying up all day, her usual sleep, so she instantly fell into her triumphant dreams. She was awoken by a thump at the window; a very similar noise to what she had heard before. And there it was—what was left of her sister, Mejda. She climbs through the window, looking straight at Briarose, who was awestruck. She took one slow step toward the bed. Briarose wielded her daggers but didn’t strike…not yet. How could she kill her sister? Why would she murder possibly the last possible person she’d ever feel a connection with? Where did this infection come from? Why is this happening? As she pondered this for a few seconds, she closed her eyes, and considered letting Mejda take her—to become to one of them. When she opened her eyes, Mejda was not in her field of vision. She was on the floor, with a dagger in the back of her head. There was blood dripping on the floor by Briarose’s feet. She felt her jaw, and it felt wet. Her hand was covered in blood. Terrified and confused, Briarose patched herself up, packed a bag of her possessions and set off into the night. Where she was going, she wasn’t sure, but Briarose knew she needed to find the answers to all of her questions. She needed to find a group of people that she could connect with, people she could explore with, and ultimately find the reason and perhaps the cure to the infection that took over Anargyros. She walked 5 km west to the coast of Cape Atlund, and on her way, chopped at large trees to collect enough wood to build a small raft. When she finished, she lied the raft in the bay, and floated on for a few hours before encountering a giant ship. She jumped into the water, and swam toward the ship. She was hit by a small, bright spotlight from the ship, and a couple of crewman helped her onto it, gave her a bench to sleep on for the night, and answered some of her questions about where they were going. They were on their way to Port Aluvius. Physical Characteristics ' '''Briarose rises 180 cm and has an average build. She has long, dirty-blonde hair tied into a messy braid that hangs down her side. Her skin is pale white from sleeping most of the day, and dark circles live below her eyes. Along her jaw is a bright, crimson red scar that she received from combat, and many cannot take their eyes off of it. She has immensely strong legs that she uses to run long distances and kick down enemies. She carries arrows on her back and a bow she carved herself, a skill she learned from her Father. On her belt she has two shortswords, ready for combat. They poke out from above her belt, and one is able to tell that they are very well-kept, sharp, and clean. Briarose, under her scale mail, wears shorts made from scrap pieces of cloth that hang just above her knees, and an over-sized leather shirt that her grandmother made. Wrapped around her is a dark brown wool cloak to keep her warm and protected from different dangers, and covering her scar is a green bandanna that she rarely removes unless to speak with someone. She wears a blue ribbon in her hair that she found in her grandmother's closet, that reminds her of home and her Anargyros heritage. Personality and Mannerisms Shy, quiet, well-mannered. Nocturnal, still adjusting to being awake in the day time. May appear fatigued when the sun is up. ' ' Brave when it comes to combat, willing to compete in melee and range combat. ' '''